Arena League

The Sevenoaks A Team swimmers were celebrating again this year before their Christmas break as they heard they had qualified for a second year for the prestigious National Arena League Final in Cardiff – last year they qualified for the first time in 100 years so to hear they had managed this feat for a consecutive year was a special moment. An amazing achievement for this small town’s swimmers who will be pitching their talent against those from some of the biggest cities in the UK.

The final of the 3 rounds saw the A team once again face the same rivals as last year: Guildford City, City of Oxford, Thanet, Bromley and hosts Wycombe.

The night was full of anticipation with the Sevenoaks swimmers along with the crowds of supporters from each club turning up the volume to provide the electric atmosphere.

The relays, always exciting, gave opening opportunities for the swimmers to shine. The 9-11yrs girls and U15 girls freestyle as well as the U13 boys medley teams managed show stopping performances in order to win their respective races.

Next was the turn of the youngest age group 10/11 yrs girls backstroker Millie Armstrong with a comprehensive 1st place. Twins, Isabella and Eva Okaro were in superb form again this year, both winning their races in the (10/11yrs) 50m butterfly and 50m breaststroke with Eva also smashing the field in the 10/11 yrs 50m Freestyle. Nathan Rodrigues once again proved his talent in the U15 100m freestyle where he has been unbeaten in all three rounds. Louis Hayes was also a winner for Sevenoaks in both the 100m U13 Fly and Freestyle races. With plenty at stake it was fabulous to see Jacob Hudson (U13 100m breaststroke) and Millie Childs (U13 100m backstroke) produce excellent swims to secure all important 2nd places and youngster Albert Whitlock pull off a great PB for a sound 3rd place in boys 10/11yrs 50m breaststroke.

Having watched the results tightening the final round of relays kicked off with a wonderful 1st place for the 10/11 yrs girls medley as well as the U13 boys freestyle relay.

Special mentions must go the following swimmers who produced stand out swims of the night:

Eva Okaro who swam one of the fastest swims ever recorded for an 11 yr old in 100m Fly in the Open Age group where her rival swimmers averaged age 17!

Olly Coote (14) fresh from the B team, truly stepped up to the plate with an outstanding PB in U15 100m Breaststroke.

Meanwhile the B Team swimmers had a journey to Hastings for a night of exciting swimming in the final of the East Division against all A Team Clubs from Crawley, Maidstone, Chelmsford, Mid Sussex Marlins as well as the hosts Hastings.

With a very young team, aged predominantly 15 & under over the three galas, it was a huge achievement for them to gain a place in the final against such prestigious teams with almost all swimmers needing to swim up age groups. The youngest girls (9-11 yrs) once again proved themselves as formidable winning both the Freestyle and Medley relays with all 4 team members (Daisy McMillan, Samriddhi Das, Emily Brown and Isla Murphy) swimming strongly. Emily Brown also proved her metal in the 10/11yrs 50m Breaststroke race producing another win.

Amy Farthing and Hamish Wyatt, the only Open age swimmers swimming in the correct age group, proved their worth bringing in great results with second places for both: Amy in the 200IM and Hamish (having travelled 5 hrs to race for Sevenoaks) showing he’s retained his skill in the 100m Breaststroke

Isla Murphy also stepped up to the plate along with Joshua Crombie to swim brilliantly for 2nd places in the 10/11 yrs 50m backstroke & 50m breaststroke respectively.

Both the U13 girls (Charlotte Prideaux, Holli Gushlow, Imogen Stoddart & Ruby Jarrett) and U13 boys (Tom Creasey, Dillon Bentley, Jaedon Lynch and Marcus Humphrey) relay teams managed fabulous swims to gain valuable points and great 3rd places for the team. Holli Gushlow also managed to swim a hard-fought race to gain an individual 3rd place in the U13 100m breaststroke along with Robert Allen (14) swimming in the U15 100m backstroke and Samriddhi Das who pulled out a wonderful PB in the girls 10/11 50m fly. Tom Creasey also dug deep and pulled out a great swim for a 12 yr old in the U13 100m backstroke.

With the above places and other strong swims from Ruby Jarrett and Dillon Bentley (both U13 100m Breaststroke) managed to secure us a finish one place up from last year. Although the team were hoping for an improvement on their ranking of 6th place, it was always going to be supremely difficult with such a young team up against seriously strong A team opposition, but the swimmers proved their worth with support and encouragement from parents and coaches (even coach Lewis Roberts dipped his toes back in the water for the men’s Open medley relay!).

Headcoach, Matt Smithhurst commented that the overriding quality shown by the swimmers was resilience. Some swimmers had only one race whereas others had up to 5 but, despite this, the teams stayed positive, came together and dug deep, race after race. Matt said, ‘In order to improve we need to sharpen our turn skills and takeovers on the relays but overall I’m hugely proud of all the swimmers in both the A & B teams and cannot wait to travel to Cardiff for the Finals. ‘

Sevenoaks swimmers were back out in force for Round 2 of the National Arena League last weekend with the A team journeying to Horsham to take on the big hitters of Guildford City A & B teams, Beckenham A, Winchester City and Atlantis. The B team headed off to the coast with hosts, Brighton, Croydon Amphibians, Chelmsford and Shepway as their fellow competitors.

The A team had a fantastic night and were in great form with 14 wins and 13 second places from 50 events showing their strength.

An outstanding race from Seb Stewart (17) in the Men’s Open 200IM kicked off the proceedings and set the night up with first win. This was shortly followed by a commanding performance from our 11/U girls in the Freestyle relay which they, once again, replicated later in the Medley relay. Not to be outdone the girls U13 won both their Freestyle and Medley relays too. With the Boys 13/U & 15/U girls in extremely fine form winning their medley and freestyle relays as well.

Izabella Okaro (11/U) produced a comprehensive win in the 50m Butterfly. Once again Millie Childs (13U) put in solid a win in the 100m Back and then Eva Okaro (11U) won convincingly in 50m Breast. They were joined in their wins by Louis Hayes (13/U) Butterfly immediately followed by Nathan Rodrigues (15/U) who fought hard for the win in the 100m Free. Next up Seb Stewart was back in the pool for the Men’s Open 100m Breaststroke, where the result was the tightest of the night but the touch just going to Seb!

In the youngest age group Eva Okaro was back in the pool smashing the 50m the Free by a good margin. These wins were strongly supported with some close fought place for 2nd with young Isla Murphy just being pipped in the 10/11yrs 50m Backstroke, Louis Hayes in the boys (13/U) 100m freestyle and in the 15/U age group, Ellis Stanhope, Frankie Whiting and Maddie Glen all swam brilliantly along with our Olympic Pentathlete, Joe Choong to gain strong 2nd places and the all-important points.

With strength in all areas Sevenoaks proved formidable in the relays gaining 2nd places, in addition to the 1st places, in girls and boys 13/U Freestyle, along with the 15/U boys Medley & Freestyle relays. The Ladies Open freestyle relay and Men’s Open Medley relay also gained great points with strong racing for 2nd place and Sevenoaks gained on their previous performance to finish the evening with a flourish and an exciting 2nd place in the 6-man Open relay.

The B Team had yet another nail biting arena round with the final positions being decided in the last few races! Despite having an average age of the competitors of just 13yrs, the team stepped up to the challenge and grasped every point at every opportunity. They faced stiff opposition and at times it truly was men against boys but with solid wins in the younger age groups, Millie Armstrong (50m Back), Samriddhi Das (50m Fly), Daisy McMillan and Thomas Hunt (both 50m Freestyle) we were sticking to the tailcoats of Brighton all the way. Further wins from Imogen Stoddart, Kara Dimond and Ollie Coote all 100m Breaststroke and all swimming up an age group, allowed us to edge ahead of Brighton.

The young team also managed some superb 2nd places with the Boys 15/U freestyle team (Dom, Oscar, Robert & Ollie) smashing PB’s to be just touched out of 1st place, along with the Boys 9/11yrs Medley team (Max, Zach, William & Thomas) and 13/u Freestyle relay team (Elspeth, Ruby, Charlotte and Imogen) all producing fabulous swims. The Individual swimmers who helped tot up our points gaining 2nd places were Aoife Lauerman swimming up an age in (15/U) 100m Butterfly, Zach Howard (10/11yrs) 50 Breaststroke, Elspeth Watson (13/U) 100m Butterfly and Imogen Stoddart (13/U) 100m Freestyle.

Sevenoaks swimmers produced a night of superb swimming in Round 1 of the National Arena League with the A team heading off early for their journey to City of Oxford while the B team headed off to the familiar waters of hosts, Erith & District at Crook Log.

The A team were up against formidable opposition facing friendly rivals, Amersham, Woking, Guildford City B Team and Maxwell. They had a fantastic night and were in great form with 16 wins out of 50 events which was impressive against such excellent opposition.

A superb performance from our 11/U girls kicked off the night with the first win in the Freestyle relay which they replicated later in the Medley relay. Not to be outdone the Boys 13/U & 15/U boys were also in extremely fine fettle and won both their Freestyle and Medley relays too.

These teams were joined in winning by Jacob Hudson (13/U) 100m Breast shortly followed by Izabella Okaro (11/U) 50m Butterfly. Both Millie Childs & Euan Terry (13U) put in solid wins in the 100m Back and then Eva Okaro (11U) won convincingly in 50m Breast. They were joined in their wins by Frankie Whiting (15/U) who broke 1 minute in 100 Free immediately followed by Nathan Rodrigues (15/U) also in the 100m Free.

In the youngest age group Eva Okaro was back in the pool smashing the 50m the Free, quickly followed by Zac Raymond (13/U) in 100m Free - both very outstanding swims. 14 year old Ben Ward had a very convincing win in the (15/U) Breaststroke. Other superb efforts we produced by Rose Compton (14) swimming up two age groups in the 200IM in the Open age group and gaining an excellent 3rd place and Zoe Naylor -Perrot and Maddy Glen both 14, also swimming in the Open age group with Zoe gaining an important 3rd place. Maddy also produced great swim in the 15/U 100m Breast with an excellent 2nd place.

Enabling Sevenoaks to gain ground with 2nd placings were youngsters Isla Murphy, Albert Whitlock & Macaulay Johnston(11/U) in 50m Back, Breast & Butterfly. Frankie Whiting also swam superbly to gain 2nd place in 100m Back (15/U) and 100m Free swimming up in the Open age and Seb Stewart grabbing a great 2nd in 100m Breast (Open).

Both Chris Cheng and Ellis Stanhope swam excellent races to bring home 3rd in the Open and 15/U 100m Butterfly, with Ben Strebel replicating them in the 13/U. Lillie Chambers also won 3rd in a hard-fought race in the (13/U) 100m Freestyle.

With strength in all areas Sevenoaks proved formidable in the relays gaining 2nd places, in addition to the aforementioned 1st places, in girls 13/U Medley and Freestyle, along with the 15/U girls and the boys 11/U Medley relay. The evening culminated in the exciting 6-man Open relay with Sevenoaks bringing home a fabulous 3rd place.

The B Team had yet another successful arena round despite being up against some very tough opposition. They faced local rivals Erith & District and Orpington, Shepway, Mid Sussex Marlins and Hastings Seagulls.

The team consisted of a very young squad with an incredible 10 swimmers swimming up in age groups. Despite this they managed a total of 21 first or second placings with the girls 11/U team of picking up 4 first places. Of those, including 1st place in the Freestyle and Medley relays for this age group Millie Armstrong and Rose Deacon both gained individual 1st places in 50m Back & Breaststroke. Other 1st placings came from George Tyler (16) in 100m Butterfly Open age group and Teddy Wallace in 100m Freestyle (15/U) with Oscar Wilson (14) grabbing a tight 1st place in 100m Breaststroke (15/U).

In the 13/U team the girls managed a superb 2nd place in the Freestyle and Medley relays with both the 11/U & 15/U boys fighting hard for 2nd place in the Medley relay. Both Megan Marter and Elsbeth Watson went on to swim incredible races to pull off fabulous 2nd place for both in the (13/U) 100m Breaststroke & Butterfly individual races. Whereas in the youngest age group other 2nd places were gained with William Jarrett in 50m Butterfly and Zac Howard in 50m Breaststroke along with girls 50m Freestyler Sami Das.

In the 15/U age group Aiden McMillan gained a 2nd in 100 Butterfly along with Sarah Williams in 100m Breaststroke. Aiden (14) also raced the men’s Open age 200 IM with Amy Farthing swimming the Open Ladies and grabbing a close 2nd place which she replicated in the Open 100m Freestyle and Butterfly.

The all-important 3rd places were gained by Boys 13/U Medley relay, Ben Channon in the 100m Back (15/U) and Sami Das in the 50m Butterfly. Joining them in their superb swimming were Charlotte Prideaux & Tom Creasey in the 100m Backstroke, along with both 100m Freestylers Imogen Stoddart and Marcus Humphry and finally Noah Enticknap in the 100m Butterfly all swimming in the 13/U age group. Further 3rd places were gained by Aoife Lauerman (14) in the 100m fly 15/U and George Tyler in the Open age 100m Breaststroke.